Promising stars would then be roped in for the national junior teams, he said.

"Of the thousands of juniors from around the country, only 340 players have qualified for the four age-group categories, namely, Under-12, Under-14, Under-16 and Under-18," he told reporters on Monday.

Kamal said that players in the grand finals had competed in the various regional preliminary rounds to qualify.

There were five rounds prior to the grand finals, from which the winners who are probably the best juniors in the country, would qualify.

He said the level of competition was high and players had to push themselves to the edge to beat their opponents and advance to the finals.

"They had to outdo themselves to ensure they made it to the grand finals," he added.

"Many of these players will eventually make it to the junior back-up squad and later to the national squad. A good example is, of course, the current world number one pairs, Tan Boon Heong and Koo Kien Keat...there are many others too," said Kamal.

Other graduates of the circuit include Thomas and Uber Cup players like Hoon Thein How (fourth men's singles), Sannatasah Saniru and Sonia Cheah (women's singles).

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